[Linda61]

Can someone please tell me the difference in these two methods, if you vaccum seal things like oats, beans etc, will they not last almost as long as placing them in mylar bags? Especially if you store them in a dark cool area

Thanks for any info you can provide

 

[Emerald]

I haven't use Mylar yet, but it too can be vac-packed I think it is that Mylar will block UV and oxygen from getting to your foods and help keep the nutrition at it's peak. But don't quote me on that!

 

[lotsoflead]

Can someone please tell me the difference in these two methods, if you vaccum seal things like oats, beans etc, will they not last almost as long as placing them in mylar bags? Especially if you store them in a dark cool area

Thanks for any info you can provide

you can put rice beans ect. in a food savor bag and seal them, they'll last just as long providing on where there stored.

if you use Mylar bags, you should either use O2 absorbers and seal them.. I use a flat iron and O2 absorbers on mylar or use a vacuum sealer to get the air out of the mylar bag.

 

[OldCootHillbilly]

Regular vacuum bags overtime will let air in.

Mylar won't plus the fact it blocks the light. You can with a bit of a twist, vacuum seal a mylar bag. Ya insert a 2 ta 3 inch strip of vacuum bag about 1/2 inch from the top an seal like normal. I've found it be best ta double seal each joint an do 3 sets a seals, the last at the top a the bag where yer vac bag strip is not. The reason the strip a vacuum bag be needed is a mylar bag don't have the channels required ta get the air out.

The mylar bag be near as good as a tin can.

 

[Linda61]

Thanks everyone for the info, think I will vaccum seal the first of my preps, then when I get the money to buy larger amounts, like 50 lb bags will switch over to the mylar and buckets. I only have enough now for about 6 months or so and it will be easy to rotate until I get into the longer term storage. Thanks again

 

[nj_m715]

I normally find mylar bags cheaper than vac bags. A 5-7 gal mylar bag is about $1 a bag and I have a hard time finding a 1 gal vac bag for that price. Sure I still want to toss in an O2 absorber, but it's still cheaper and better.

 

[BillM]

Mylar

If you seal up the Mylar bag with an iorn and leave an opening the size of your vacum cleaner hose, you can place a peice of cloth over the end of the hose to prevent sucking food in the hose and vacum all the air out of your bag. Then you can seal up the remaining opening when you remove the hose.

I also put in oxygen absorbers for good measure.

 

[nj_m715]

That's about how we did it. We fill the bag and seal it leaving a corner open. Then toss in the absorbers, push out any extra air and seal. We tried the food saver, but it's not hot enough to make a seal and we tried the vacuum, but always let in some air before we could get it sealed so we gave up on it.

 

[CulexPipiens]

I've been experimenting with the 1 gallon mylar ziplock bags. The idea is fill, add the O2 absorbers, squeeze out air and ziplock it close. There is about an inch or so of mylar above the ziplock so I am then heat sealing it with the intent that the heat seal will be the relied on seal and the ziplock is both a backup and a way to start using a bag's contents and yet still be able to sort of seal it between uses.

A plus is that if you're not able to buy in large quantities, you can add to a bag over a couple of trips until it's filled zipping it closed in between, then when fill heat seal and start on another one. I had looked at large amounts of some items but with shipping it turned out to be cheaper for me to just buy smaller amounts from local stores.